PART 6Enforcement

The special purposes

179Effectiveness of the media's dispute resolution procedures

1

The Secretary of State must, before the end of each review period, lay before Parliament a report produced by the Secretary of State or an appropriate person on—

a

the use of relevant alternative dispute resolution procedures, during that period, in cases involving a failure, or alleged failure, by a relevant media organisation to comply with the data protection legislation, and

b

the effectiveness of those procedures in such cases.

2

In this section—

  • “appropriate person” means a person who the Secretary of State considers has appropriate experience and skills to produce a report described in subsection (1);

  • “relevant alternative dispute resolution procedures” means alternative dispute resolution procedures provided by persons who produce or enforce codes of practice for relevant media organisations;

  • “relevant media organisation” means a body or other organisation whose activities consist of or include journalism, other than a broadcaster;

  • “review period” means—

    1. a

      the period of 3 years beginning when this Act is passed, and

    2. b

      each subsequent period of 3 years.

3

The Secretary of State must send a copy of the report to—

a

the Scottish Ministers,

b

the Welsh Ministers, and

c

the Executive Office in Northern Ireland.